Want What You Have
by Caffrey
Summary: When the Harlem newsies try to take over lower territories in the city, Jack and the other Duane Street newsies step in to help Ali and her newsgirls.


"Ali, wake up!" Courtney pushed on Ali's shoulder, trying to get the eighteen-year-old to open her eyes. Ali grunted in response and burrowed deeper under the covers. Courtney stared at her. It was already 4:30 in the morning and if Ali didn't get up, they'd never get to Newspaper Row in time to get papes before they ran out.  
  
"Wake up!" Courtney screamed in Ali's ear. Using all her might, she shoved against Ali, sending the latter off the bed and onto the floor. Ali just laid there, her eyes still shut. Courtney stood above her with her hands on her hips. "Gee, I wouldn't want ya to strain yerself or anything," she said loudly.  
  
Ali finally opened her eyes and sat up. "I don't wanna go to work!" she grumbled, standing up and heading toward the washroom.  
  
"I don't care if you don't want to," said Courtney, following her. "You have to! If you don't, you're gonna be back sleepin' on a steam- grate."  
  
"Those always were nice and warm," remarked Ali. She splashed some water on her face and grabbed the nearest towel--right out of Lindsey's hand.  
  
"Hey!" the girl protested. "I was usin' that!"  
  
"Yeah, well, now I am," said Ali, smiling. She threw the cloth back at Lindsey and headed into a bathroom stall. Lindsey finished drying off her face and pulled her hair back with some string. After making sure she would look fairy presentable to the general public, she headed downstairs to grab some breakfast from the Children's Aid Society lady. The woman always brought bread and coffee for the girls, at six cents a serving. When she got downstairs, Lindsey found only Erin still in the room.  
  
"Where's the food lady?" asked Lindsey, searching for some morsel of food.  
  
"She didn't show up this morning," muttered Erin from her seat on a stool.  
  
"Then where'd everybody go?" asked Lindsey. "The only ones upstairs are Bale and Ali."  
  
"They all went down to Newspaper Row," answered Erin. "Somebody said there're nuns down there that give out food to the Duane Street newsboys, so maybe they'll give us some food."  
  
Lindsey plopped herself on a bench. "Why're you still here?"  
  
"I was told to stay here and tell everybody that. Which means I won't get any breakfast, but who cares? They don't," muttered Erin. She was in an unusually bad mood.  
  
"Well, come on," said Lindsey, standing up. "Maybe they got some food left. You an' I can eat it and Ali and Courtney can starve. They got up late anyways." Erin grinned and followed Lindsey out the door. Moments later, Ali and Courtney came pounding down the stairs.  
  
"Where'd everybody go?" asked Ali. Courtney looked around, perplexed.  
  
"I guess they left," she said. "Where's the food?"  
  
Ali shrugged. "I guess that left, too. Oh well. We can steal something. Come on, we're gonna be late."  
  
Courtney laughed as she followed Ali out of the lodging-house. "Oh sure, now you're all concerned about bein' late."  
  
Ali looked over her shoulder, grinning. "Well, yeah! I mean, we don't want the fellas to get all the papes, do we?" Courtney shook her head "no" and continued to follow Ali down Sixth Avenue towards Newspaper Row.  
  
* * *  
  
"Yeah, uh, gimme twenty."  
  
"Twenty papes! Next!"  
  
Dutchy grabbed his papes and went over to sit by Racetrack and Jack to wait for the rest of the newsies to get their papes. It was some tradition that no one left Printing House Square until every last newsy in the city had their papes. And being as there were still another hundred in line, it didn't look like they would be going anywhere within the next five minutes.  
  
"Hey, Jack?" asked Crutchy, coming over to Cowboy. "Spot me two bits?"  
  
"Here," said Jack, flipping a coin at Crutchy. The boy caught it in his right hand, thanked Jack, and got into line behind Ali and Courtney. The two could see all the other girls from the lodging house waiting on the opposite side of the square, separate from all the other newsies. The girls weren't too fond of the male newsies and made sure the guys stayed out of their territory. It wasn't like they were beating them up or anything--it was just, well, stay away from Ali Samborn's newsies.  
  
"How many?" Weasel basically screamed in the face of Lindsey. She recoiled at his breath.  
  
"Ugh, Weasel, chew on some mint!" she said. Weasel glared at her and Lindsey grinned in triumph. "Thirty papes."  
  
"Thirty papes," ordered Weasel to Morris Delancey. He shoved the papers under the bar and Lindsey happily followed Erin over to the rest of the girls. "Next!"  
  
"So, how're the headlines this mornin'?" asked Erin, opening up a paper and skimming the bold type.  
  
"Eh," responded Andie. "They'll do. Nothin' excitin' happened last night."  
  
"Oh, look," said Lindsey, pointing, "another baby born wid two heads."  
  
"There seems to be a lot of that goin' around," commented Jenn. "Wasn't that in here two weeks ago?"  
  
"I think so," said Erin, still skimming. "Mezzanine seats sold out for show . . . the mayor's daughter's a debutante . . . sale on porcelain tubs . . . Paul Revere wins it at Sheepshead Races . . ."  
  
"How many?" Weasel screamed in the face of another female newsy.  
  
"Thirty!" she screamed right back in his face. "And get some mint!"  
  
"You loud enough?" asked Specs from behind the girl. She turned and looked at him.  
  
"I'm feelin' especially obnoxious this mornin'. You got a problem wid dat?" Specs shook his head "no" and the girl took her papers over to the girls.  
  
"Top o' the mornin' to ya!" she said, sitting down on the ground.  
  
"Mornin', Alley," said Lindsey. She refolded the paper she'd been skimming and counted how many people were still in line for The World. Ten. Good, they'd be out of there in a minute.  
  
"Mornin', Weasel," grinned Ali at the fat little stinky man.  
  
"How many?" grunted Weasel. He disliked Ali almost as much as he disliked Jack.  
  
"Aw, I don't even get a good mornin'?" frowned Ali. "That's not nice, Weasel."  
  
"I don't hafta be nice," said Weasel. "How many?"  
  
"Fifty papes," answered Ali. Morris shoved them under the bar. "My, aren't we lookin' handsome this mornin', Morris," she mocked him. Morris glared at her.  
  
"Beat it," he growled through the bars. Ali grinned at Courtney.  
  
"Aw, I don't think Morris is in a good mood, Bale," smirked Ali.  
  
"I said, beat it!" yelled Morris through the bars. Jack and his usual gang looked up with interest. Ali took a step back from the bars.  
  
"Well, ya don't hafta get all nasty with me!" she said. "And after I complimented you . . ." Ali began to sniffle condescendingly at Morris. Courtney tried to suppress a grin.  
  
"Ali, I think you should just take your papes," she managed to get out without laughing.  
  
"Fine," said Ali, sighing heavily. She grabbed her papes off the shelf, saluted Morris and Weasel, and went over to the newsgirls.  
  
"How many?" Weasel grunted.  
  
"Um . . . lemme think . . ." said Courtney, still trying to piss off Morris.  
  
"Think harder! We wanna get to work!" called out Pie Eater from his position about ten feet from the paper window. Courtney turned around and gave him the meanest look she could conjure up at 5:00 in the morning. It was mean enough to make Pie Eater look away. Courtney turned back to Weasel.  
  
"Thirty papes," she said. Morris handed her the papers and Courtney took them from him, giving him a dazzling smile. "Have a nice day, sweetheart!" she called as she walked over to the girls. They all laughed and even Jack and Co. snickered. Thirty seconds later, the bell sounded, signaling that the newsies should hit the streets. Everyone left the square, screaming at the top of their lungs the headlines of that day's paper.  
  
* * *  
  
Later that day, Ali sat on a curb, waiting for Courtney to come back from conning some guy into buying a pape from her. She watched, laughing, as Courtney followed the man down the street, almost shoving the paper in his face.  
  
"Please, mista!" pleaded Courtney. "Me mudder needs an operation!" She looked desperately into the man's face. He finally agreed, handing her a penny. "Oh, thank you, mista! Thank you!" The man just took his paper and walked away, looking flustered from the attention he'd gotten from the newsgirl. Courtney walked proudly back over to Ali.  
  
"There really is another sucker born ev'ry minute," she said. Ali laughed at her.  
  
"Your style is, uh, definitely unique, Bale," she said.  
  
"Hey, it works," said Courtney. "Come on, I'm gettin' hungry. I thought you said we was gonna steal somethin'."  
  
"There're produce stands down on Fifty-first Street," said Ali.  
  
"That's Kelly's territory," said Courtney, shifting her papes from one arm to the other.  
  
"So?" asked Ali, standing up. "Kelly doesn't own the city. 'Sides, we ain't sellin' papes there. We're just gettin' food. Anyway, what could they do to us?" She started walking down Ninth Avenue towards Fifty-first Street.  
  
"I don't know," said Courtney, reluctantly following Ali. "I guess it's okay."  
  
"It's fine," Ali assured her. "I promise."  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey, Alley."  
  
Alley froze in her tracks, recognizing the voice. Mike and his goons kept following her and she was sick of it. She turned around and gave them a haughty look.  
  
"What?" she asked, not really wanting to know.  
  
"How's youse doin'?" asked Mike. He carried his own pile of papes under his arm.  
  
"Get outta our territory," said Alley, glaring at Mike.  
  
Mike smiled. "You mean my territory," he said.  
  
"No, I mean our territory," said Alley. "Just cause you want it doesn't mean you have it," she said.  
  
Mike's smile disappeared and he yanked Alley by the arm into the space between two buildings. "Listen," he growled as he had Billy hold her arms back and he himself pulled her head back by her hair, "this is gonna be my territory, and you girls know it."  
  
"Let go of me," said Alley between gritted teeth. Mike just pulled on her hair harder.  
  
"I will have this territory and you can tell Ali that," said Mike. He smacked Alley, leaving a red handprint on her cheek. "And that it's a threat, not a proposition." He looked back at Billy. "Let her go."  
  
Billy let go of Alley by pushing her to the ground. She looked up and found Mike grinning at her again. "Just remember," he warned, "if I don't get this territory, things are gonna get a lot worse for you and Ali." With that, he and his comrades left the alleyway, laughing.  
  
Alley eventually stood up and gathered her scattered papers. She dusted the dirt off herself and pushed her hair back. "You've been threatening me like that for months," she muttered. "And nothin's come of it yet, so why should I believe you now?" Tossing off Mike's threat as one of a previous thousand, she headed back onto the street to hawk the headline, hoping that not too many people would notice the red mark on her cheek.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ali, I really don't think this is such a good idea," said Courtney, looking warily at the newsy across the street. Fifty-seventh Street was the divider between Jack's and Ali's territories, and Courtney and Ali were standing on their side of the street, ready to cross over to Jack's side.  
  
"Why not?" asked Ali, waiting for a procession of carriages to pass.  
  
"Cause that newsy's glaring at us," Courtney said, pointing at the newsy.  
  
Ali rolled her eyes. "What's he gonna do to us, huh? Yell at us? Ooo, I'm scared!"  
  
Courtney sighed. "He just doesn't look friendly."  
  
"He's one of Kelly's newsies, Bale. None of them are friendly," said Ali. The carriages had finally stopped and Ali pulled Courtney across the street with her. The newsy purposefully walked over to them and stood in their path. He'd avoid going into Ali Samborn's territory if that's the way things were supposed to be, but she'd better stay outta Jack's likewise.  
  
"Where you goin'?" he demanded to know. Ali glared at him. He was only a few inches taller than her, so she wasn't intimidated at all.  
  
"To Fifty-first Street. Is that all right with you?" she asked.  
  
The newsy looked from Ali to Courtney, then back to Ali. "Why you goin' to Fifty-first Street?"  
  
"To get somethin' to eat," said Courtney. Her attitude had changed and she would now push the newsy out of her way if she had to. "You gonna let us by?"  
  
"Where're you gettin' somethin' to eat?" asked the newsy.  
  
Ali rolled her eyes at his interrogation. "The Waldorf," she said sarcastically. "Why's it matter? Can we go?"  
  
The newsy looked them over for a few seconds more and, deciding it was all right for them to be there, nodded.  
  
"Oh, thank you," said Courtney. "Are you sure we don't need to pay a toll?"  
  
"Just don't sell any papes," said the newsy. "This is Cowboy's territory."  
  
"We know," said Ali. "We're just eatin' here. And you tell all your little friends that, too, so we don't have to deal with them all the way there." Ali literally pushed past the newsy, with Courtney purposefully knocking into him, and they continued on their way.  
  
"I really don't like Kelly's newsies," commented Ali.  
  
Courtney grinned. "Ali, you don't like any newsies other than our house's."  
  
Ali shrugged. "Brooklyn ain't bad even though Spot Conlon runs it."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'll just stick with our house," said Courtney. "If the rest of the newsies are like that newsy back there, I don't want nothin' to do with 'em."  
  
"Just stay away from Kelly," said Ali, stepping over some kid's marbles game.  
  
"What'd he ever do to you?" asked Courtney. "I'm still kinda unclear 'bout why we don't like him and his newsies."  
  
Ali looked at Courtney as she walked. "Well, once upon a time, part of our territory was Jack's. But we took it over and he let us. Then, a few months ago, Mr. High and Mighty Newsy decided he wanted his territory back, but I told him it's mine now and that's his problem, so deal with it. He won't let up cause . . . well, I don't know why he won't give it up. And Mike's been gettin' on my case 'bout lettin' him have the rest of our territory, and he won't leave Alley alone--which is startin' to get on my nerves, by the way." She checked a street sign and made Courtney go left. "None of 'em understand that it's my territory and I ain't givin' it up. I think they're lackin' in the brain department, if ya know what I mean. Here we are."  
  
Courtney looked at what Ali was pointing to: about twelve stands lined the street on the right, selling everything from dishes to jewelry. She spotted a fruit stand about two stalls down. It would be easy to walk by and slip something up her sleeve.  
  
"Come on," said Ali. "Let's look like we're browsin'." She and Courtney walked over to the fish stand next to the fruit, looking like they were examining some salmon.  
  
"Momma would like this for dinner, I think," said Courtney, starting a dialogue so the vendors wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Ali slid in next to her so that she could grab an apple off of the fruit stand.  
  
"Momma doesn't like salmon!" she said. "You know that!" She snatched an apple from the stand and slipped it up her sleeve, covering her motions with her newspapers. "I think she'd like the flounder over here," she continued, walking around to the other side of Courtney so that her partner in crime would have a chance to get something for herself. Courtney slid closer to the fruit stand, pretending to look at the flounder.  
  
"I thought she liked mackerel," she said, pushing a pear up her sleeve.  
  
"No, no," said Ali, making her way over to the shrimp. "How much a pound?" she asked, distracting the vendor so Courtney could grab an apple. Courtney hid her motions with her newspaper as well, as the vendor told Ali the price. "That much?" asked Ali, pretending to be horrified. "Oh, come on, Mary! The fish on Fourty-fourth Street is much cheaper." Ali walked quickly away with Courtney close behind. When they made it to Fiftieth Street, they sat down a front stoop.  
  
"You don't think he thought it was strange that we were newsies buying fish?" asked Courtney, rubbing the apple on her shirt to clean it off. She bit into it, crunching.  
  
"Mmm mmm" said Ali, chewing some apple and shaking her head "no". "Lots of kids buy stuff on their route. Newsies that have families do."  
  
"Good," said Courtney. "I was hopin' it didn't look strange." She looked down the street and saw two newsies pointing at them and talking. "Are all of Jack's newsies paranoid?" she asked.  
  
"Why?" asked Ali, still working on her apple. She looked where Courtney was looking and answered her own question. "Mush and Kid Blink," she said. "Two of my favorite guys."  
  
"Your favorite?" asked Courtney, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Ali grinned. "Well, not exactly. I'm kinda the reason Kid's wearin' that patch. He can see perfectly fine outta that eye. I just gave him a black eye last week and I guess it hasn't gone away yet."  
  
"You punched him?!?" asked Courtney, stunned. "Why??"  
  
"He was givin' me all this garbage 'bout how Jack really owns my territory and how I should just give it up cause I'm only a girl anyhow. So I let him have it."  
  
"He deserved it," said Courtney. "He really said that?"  
  
"Yep," said Ali, nodding and tossing her apple core aside. "And Mush backed him up. I only hit him in the arm. And he's got sleeves to cover the bruise."  
  
"You are one mean person, Ali," laughed Courtney. "They're not gonna give us any trouble, are they?" she asked.  
  
"Not after what I did to them, they shouldn't," said Ali. "You done?" Courtney nodded, throwing her apple and pear cores into the gutter. "Good. Kelly's territory gives me the creeps." Courtney led the way back up Ninth Avenue to their territory.  
  
* * *  
  
"Get out of my way!" Erin screamed in the face of a newsy. He looked at her, shocked that so much noise could come from such a small person. But he didn't move.  
  
"Didn't you hear me, or are you deaf?" shouted Erin. The two newsies with this one watched with curiosity. "Hello?!? Are you gonna respond at all??"  
  
"I heard ya!" the newsy shouted back in Erin's face. That shut her up. "What're you doin' here?"  
  
"None of your business," spat Erin. "Now move!"  
  
"Not until you tell us what you're doin' here," said the second newsy.  
  
"You wanna know what I'm doin' here? I'll tell ya," said Erin. "I'm standing on a sidewalk, blocked by three of Kelly's stupid goons, tryin' to get Sixty-first Street!"  
  
"Why're you in our territory?" asked the third newsy.  
  
Erin groaned and looked disgusted with the whole thing. "Would you just move? Is that so hard? You just put one foot in front of the other, and there ya have it!"  
  
"Just tell us why you're here," said the first newsy. "Then we'll let ya go."  
  
"It's a city," said Erin. "People walk around in the city. I'm walking around in the city. And if I happen to walk past Fifty-seventh Street, the city doesn't end! I'm still in New York! And I can still walk around in it! Is that clear to you or do I need to draw a diagram?"  
  
The newsies standing before Erin tried to hold back grins. They should probably just let the girl pass, but it was pretty entertaining to keep her there.  
  
"But why are you here in Jack's territory?" asked the second newsy.  
  
"I'm visiting my good friend . . ." Erin wracked her brain, trying to come up with a name of one of the Duane St. newsies. "Pie Eater," she finished. The newsies laughed, especially the second one.  
  
"Um, I'm Pie Eater," he said, " and I certainly don't know you. So you couldn't be visiting me."  
  
"Not Pie Eater!" said Erin quickly. "I meant . . . uh . . . um . . . Specs?" Then she noticed that the third newsy was wearing spectacles. She groaned when she looked at him. "You're not . . .?" He nodded.  
  
"The one and only," he grinned.  
  
Erin looked down at the ground and then up at the first newsy. "You wanna tell me your name so I don't screw this one up?" she asked.  
  
He laughed. "Snoddy," he responded. "Yours?"  
  
"Red," Erin answered.  
  
"Well, Red," said Specs, "you wanna tell us why you're really here?"  
  
"I just went to get some lunch," said Erin. "I didn't think people would be jumpin' all over me."  
  
"See?" said Pie Eater. "That's all you needed to say. We would've let you pass five minutes ago."  
  
"But this was fun," laughed Snoddy. Erin just glared at all three of them as they moved apart to let her pass, and walked by, her head held high in the air. She could still hear them laughing behind her as she crossed over Fifty-seventh Street.  
  
* * *  
  
"Mista, it's me last pape!" Lindsey looked despairingly into the man's eyes. He shook his head and walked away.  
  
"But me mudda's sick! And me brudda's got one leg! And my pa's in jail! Mista!" The man still ignored her, so Lindsey plopped herself down on the curb. What a tight-wad, she thought. It was midnight and she had one more stinkin' pape to sell, but would anyone buy it? Nope. Lindsey glared at the paper. She'd been trying to sell it for the past half-hour, and now she was beginning to despise it. It represented every last shake of the head from everyone she'd pleaded with over the past hour.  
  
Resigning herself to the fact that the thing would probably have to wind up in the gutter, Lindsey stood up and began the five-block trek to the lodging-house. As she stomped down the sidewalk, she contemplated the many uses for an extra paper. She could use it as a blanket if she ever couldn't afford to stay at the lodging-house. She could crumple it up and throw it at people. She tear it into pieces and pretend it was New Year's Eve. Or she could sell it to the couple who was walking up the sidewalk towards her.  
  
"Buy me last pape, ma'am?" Lindsey asked the woman in her most pitiful voice. She coughed to emphasize exactly how pathetic she wanted these people to think she was.  
  
"Don't need a paper," grumbled the man, trying to get past Lindsey.  
  
"Please, sir," said Lindsey. "My mother's sick. I'm all she's got."  
  
The woman touched the man's sleeve, stopping him. "Oh, John, buy the paper. The poor dear needs to get home. It's too late for her to be out by herself."  
  
John looked at Lindsey and then at his companion. "I already bought today's paper."  
  
The woman smiled at Lindsey who gave her a huge smile back. "We can use it in the fireplace. Please, John?"  
  
Grumbling, John fumbled around in his pockets until he found a penny. He handed it to Lindsey, who took it gratefully, then handed him his paper.  
  
"Thank you so much! God bless you!" she said. John just nodded crisply as the woman gave Lindsey another smile. Then they headed on their way up the street. Lindsey laughed quietly at them, then continued on her way to the lodging-house in a much better mood than minutes before. Her happiness was shattered, however, by six figures who appeared from an alleyway in front of her. Recognizing Mike, Lindsey rolled her eyes.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked, totally annoyed.  
  
Mike grinned. "How are ya, Linds?" he asked.  
  
"What do you want?" Lindsey repeated, not at all in the mood to deal with his idiocy.  
  
"You seen Alley around?" Mike asked.  
  
Lindsey didn't know which one he was referring to, but she asked, "Even if I had, what makes you think I'd tell you?"  
  
"This," answered Mike, holding up a switchblade. His five friends had chains and they wrapped them around their hands, making Lindsey's eyes go wide. "So," continued Mike, "have you seen Alley around?"  
  
"No," Lindsey said, barely audible. Mike had threatened her before, although not nearly as much as Alley, but he'd never had weapons with him.  
  
Mike closed the switchblade and put it back in his pocket. "I certainly hope you're tellin' me the truth, Linds. Cause if you ain't . . . well, we won't go into that. If you see her though, tell her I'm lookin' for her." He grinned demonically at Lindsey, then led his five cohorts down Eighty-sixth Street.  
  
"Wait!" shouted Lindsey. "Which Alley?" He could be threatening either one of them.  
  
Mike and his goons started laughing hysterically as they kept walking away, not answering Lindsey. "Which one do ya think? It's your call," yelled Mike over his shoulder. He kept laughing as he got further and further away.  
  
Panicking, Lindsey ran the rest of the way down Amsterdam Avenue to the lodging-house. She burst through the doors and charged up the stairs without even saying hello to Keller, the manager. Lindsey threw open the bedroom door and looked frantically around. She saw Ali's blond head peeking out from under the sheet of her bed, but where Alley was supposed to be was just a cot. Lindsey raced over to Ali's bed and shook the girl violently.  
  
"Ali, get up!" she pleaded. Ali half-opened her eyes and looked at Lindsey groggily.  
  
"Whasamatter?" she mumbled, trying to make clear words and not quite succeeding.  
  
"Mike's out there . . . and Alley's not here . . . and her bed . . . and, and the knife," Lindsey sputtered, trying to get everything out at once.  
  
"A knife?" Ali asked, now fully awake and sitting up. "Lindsey, what're you talking about?"  
  
Lindsey started wringing her hands and spitting out her story. "I was coming home, and Mike and his goons came out of this alleyway and they wanted to know where Alley was. But I didn't know which one they were talkin' about, ya know? So I didn't tell them. But then Mike pulled out this knife, and the other ones had chains, and, and they said they're lookin' for Alley. And she's not here, Ali! She's not here! Which means she's out there!" Lindsey was yelling at this point, her finger pointing to the window. Erin was awake in the bed next to Ali's, peering through the darkness at Lindsey.  
  
"What?" she croaked, not understanding what Lindsey was screaming about.  
  
"And Mike's out there, too," continued Lindsey. "With a knife! And chains! And they're gonna . . . they're gonna . . . and we gotta stop them!" She backed up as Ali climbed out of bed and pulled a pair of shoes on. Good thing she slept in her clothes. She searched for her hat, knowing it had gotten pushed under the bed earlier.  
  
"What's going on?" Erin asked, sitting up. "Where're you goin'?"  
  
"Red, get dressed," ordered Ali. "Mike's bein' a dumbass and we gotta stop him before Alley gets hurt." She finally found her hat and shoved it on her head. Thirty seconds later, Erin was dressed and ready to go.  
  
"Whadaya mean, Mike's bein' a dumbass?" she asked. "What's he doin' now?"  
  
"I'll explain on the way," said Lindsey. "C'mon!" She, Ali, and Erin left the bedroom and ran down the steps into the night air.  
  
"Which way'd they go?" Ali asked Lindsey. Lindsey pointed north.  
  
"They went down Eighty-sixth Street," she answered.  
  
"Then that's the way we go," said Ali. She started running in that direction with Lindsey and Erin right behind her.  
  
* * *  
  
"Race, I don't understand why we gotta go through Ali's territory," said Spot, looking around at the buildings they were passing. He usually stayed out of Manhattan, except to meet with Jack, and he completely avoided Ali's territory. Spot didn't like her, she didn't like him, and he was perfectly content to keep it that way.  
  
"Cause she's got everythin' 'round Central Park and dat's where we're goin'," answered Racetrack. He kept walking up Ninth Street, leading Spot, Jack, David, Kid Blink, and Mush to Central Park, the sight of that night's poker match with some Harlem newsies.  
  
"What do you fellas have against her, anyway?" asked David.  
  
"She's a--" started Spot.  
  
"Spot," Jack warned, cutting him off. He looked over at David. "She's got my territory and won't give it back," he said.  
  
"And she's a stubborn pain-in-the-ass," added Spot, grinning at Jack. Jack raised his eyebrows. "That's what I was originally gonna say, I swear it," promised Spot, still grinning. Jack just nodded and kept following Racetrack.  
  
"So what're you gonna bet with tonight, Race?" asked Mush, staring up at a large building on the group's right.  
  
"Eh, I got a few bucks," said Race. "I been savin' up for this one."  
  
* * *  
  
Central Park had an eerie fog hanging over it that night as Alley made her way from the East Side to the West Side. She wasn't taking her usual path through the park, hoping that if Mike had the weird idea to track her down at midnight, he wouldn't be able to find her. She walked quickly, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements behind bushes and trees. There was no reason to feel this paranoid, she kept telling herself. She'd come through the park thousands of times, so why should anything out of the ordinary happen this time? But she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen.  
  
A snap of a twig behind her made Alley spin around, breathing rapidly. Her breathing slowed when she saw nothing. But she scanned the area with her eyes carefully, just to be sure.  
  
"Why are you doin' this to yourself?" she muttered. "There's no one here." She turned back around and started walking even faster than before. A minute later, she heard a thud behind her. Alley froze, not wanting to turn around. It seemed darker than it had a few minutes back. She realized this was because clouds had covered most of the moon, greatly reducing any light she'd had. She turned cautiously, ready to run from whatever was behind her. Gulping, she stared through the fog and found absolutely nothing there. Alley sighed with relief and turned back around to find herself face-to-face with Mike. Gasping, she took two steps back, but crashed into someone else. She spun around to find Billy and his pal, Frank. She tried to go to her left, but there was another Harlem newsy, glaring at her. She turned for her one last chance of escape to her right, but two more newsies stood in her way.  
  
"Hiya, Alley," said Mike, not smiling this time. He whipped out his knife. Alley stared at him, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. The other newsies each took a step closer to her, revealing their chains. She tried to break loose from the circle, but couldn't. She was trapped.  
  
* * *  
  
"So I says, 'No, I meant the green one!'" finished Blink. The other five burst out laughing hysterically at his joke.  
  
"Here we go," announced Race, leading the group toward the Reservoir. They were supposed to meet the Harlem newsies on the other side of it in thirty minutes. He was pretty sure he was going the right way. The fog made it difficult to see, though.  
  
The group was still chuckling at Blink's joke when David froze, causing Mush to crash into the back of him.  
  
"Davey, what're ya doin'?" complained Mush.  
  
"Shh," said David. "D'ya hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" Spot said loudly. He didn't hear anything.  
  
"Listen," ordered David. The other five strained their ears until they heard a scream not too far away.  
  
"That," said David. "What was that?"  
  
"Somebody screamed," said Jack, still listening. "I think it came from over there," he added, pointing to their left.  
  
"Well, c'mon!" said Mush, running towards where Jack was pointing.  
  
"No!" said Spot. "I ain't trapsin' around in the woods in the middle of the night, lookin' for some screamin' maniac!"  
  
"What if someone's hurt?" asked David.  
  
"And it ain't woods," added Racetrack. "There's a path over there."  
  
"Would you come on!" shouted Mush, jumping up and down in the field next to them. David, Racetrack and Blink ran over to join him.  
  
"C'mon, Spot," said Jack, heading over there as well.  
  
Spot remained there, grumbling to himself. Then he decided he didn't want to hang out in Central Park by himself all night, so he reluctantly followed them. "Shoulda never come to Manhattan. Shoulda just stayed in Brooklyn where I belong," he muttered.  
  
* * *  
  
"This way?" asked Erin, pointing at the Eighty-sixth Street entrance to Central Park.  
  
"I don't know!" cried Lindsey. "Maybe! Is that where she comes through at night? I thought she came through down on the Seventy-ninth Street path."  
  
"Yeah, she does!" said Ali, running in that direction. "C'mon!" Lindsey and Erin ran after her, trying to keep up with Ali's sudden burst of energy.  
  
"Ow, my side!" Erin moaned, holding her left side. Ali stopped and walked back to her.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, looking at Erin who was wincing in pain.  
  
"I have a cramp in my side because of you and your stupid running!" Erin complained, bending over with a grimace on her face.  
  
"Run it off," said Ali. "We gotta find her."  
  
"Ali, I can't run it off! I can't even move!" said Erin.  
  
Ali scrunched up her eyebrows. "Well, what're we s'posed to do? Leave Alley out there so Mike can kill her?"  
  
"How do you even expect to find her?" Erin asked. "It's the middle of the night, Ali! In New York City! This place is huge! And how do you know she didn't get back to the house already?"  
  
"I don't," answered Ali. "But what if she didn't? What if she's out here somewhere?"  
  
"Erin's right, Ali," said Lindsey. "We can't find her in a city this big. There's no way we could even find her in the park."  
  
Ali stared at the two of them for six seconds. "Fine," she said. "Go home. Give up. I for one am not gonna let Mike get a hold of her. So you two can go on home and I'll stay out here, lookin' for her." Ali turned and walked away towards Central Park.  
  
"Ali . . ." Lindsey said, trying to stop her. But she knew Ali was too stubborn to listen to anybody else once she had her mind set on something, so instead she gave Erin some support on her right side and helped her walk back to the lodging-house. Let Ali walk around by herself if she wanted to. Lindsey certainly wasn't going to stop her.  
  
* * *  
  
"Why are you doing this?!?" Alley cried, tears streaming down her face. A few minutes earlier, Mike had made Billy and Frank hold her in a vice grip while he took swipes at her with his knife, not actually cutting her--just scaring her. But he'd gotten tired of that and put the knife away. Now he was just entertaining himself by squeezing her arms until she screamed and then slapping her. The slaps, at the moment, were slowly evolving into punches, and Alley had two black eyes and a bruised cheek to prove it.  
  
"Shut the hell up!" Mike shouted at her, pulling his arm back and whacking her across the face again. "You know why I'm doing this! I want my territory!" He grabbed a chain from Frank and hit Alley in the arm with it. She grabbed her arm and crumbled to the ground in pain.  
  
"Stop!" she screamed. "Please!" Instead of stopping, Mike kicked her.  
  
"I told you to shut up!" he yelled. "If I hafta kill you to make you listen, I will!" he said, punching her in the side. Alley moaned, the breath knocked out of her. Mike reached down and grabbed a hunk of her hair, lifting her head to make her look at him.  
  
"Now, Alley, what're you gonna tell your newsy leader, huh?" he asked. Alley tried to answer, but her jaw hurt too much to talk.  
  
"I said, what're you gonna tell her?" Mike screamed in Alley's face, pulling harder on her hair.  
  
"Give up the territory!" Alley choked out, gasping for breath between sobs. Mike let go of her hair.  
  
"Good girl," he muttered. He and the others glared at Alley for a minute. Then Mike leaned down into Alley's face. "You know I don't really wanna hurt you, don't ya? I just gotta send this message to Ali. You know that, right?" He didn't get any response from Alley. Mike searched her face but she simply looked back at him. Annoyed, he punched her again, sending her into blessed unconsciousness.  
  
"Hey!" Jack screamed as he saw Mike hit Alley. Mike looked up and narrowed his eyes. Kelly. Just what he needed. Jack walked over to Mike, his eyes blazing.  
  
"Heya, Cowboy, I was just---" Mike started to explain. Too late. Jack sent his fist flying into Mike's jaw with such force that Mike fell to the ground.  
  
"You bastard," muttered Billy, whipping his chain at Jack. Jack jumped back just as the chain grazed the air where he'd been standing.  
  
"Oh, I don't think so," came Blink's voice from behind Billy. He grabbed the boy's arm and pulled it behind his head. "Drop the chain," Blink growled. Billy did as he was told just before Blink hit him on the back of the head with a nearby four-inch-thick branch. Billy fell to the ground, face first.  
  
Meanwhile, Spot had taken it upon himself to join in the beating-up festivities and was pounding the heck out of Sammy, a big guy who, at that point in time, didn't seem so menacing. In fact, he was crying for his mother.  
  
"Yeah, you cry for your mama," said Spot. "You baby." He hit Sammy with his cane, forcing Sammy to the kiss the ground. Sammy groaned, but didn't get up.  
  
"Heh, heh! Got yer chain!" Mush taunted another newsy, Spit. Mush looked rather menacing to Spit, swinging a chain back and forth in front of the kid. The fact that Mush was laughing like a deranged maniac wasn't helping matters. So Spit did the only logical thing--he ran like hell. "Yeah, you'd better run!" shouted Mush. "I know where you live!" He turned around, laughing, and saw Racetrack get punched by yet another newsy. "Ooo, that ain't nice," said Mush. He hit the kid with the chain, making him (the newsy) jump back. Then the newsy grinned and whipped out his own chain, swinging it at Mush. They two faced each other like mad dogs in a circle, swinging their chains at one another. The newsy's chain grazed Mush's cheek, making a slight cut. Mush touched his hand to his cheek, shocked. He was about to head-butt the kid when David tapped the newsy's shoulder. He turned around and David punched him square in the jaw. Mush watched, startled, as the newsy fell to the ground with a dull thud.  
  
"Wow, Davey, I didn't know you had it in ya," said Mush, kicking the guy in the stomach to shut him up.  
  
David looked down at his victim, slightly embarrassed. "Neither did I," he said. They both turned just in time to see Racetrack knock out Frank. "Ouch," said David.  
  
Jack was glaring down at Mike, who was glaring right back up at him. He stood up and faced Jack, nose-to-nose. The Harlem newsies who'd been knocked down were now standing up and joining Mike. They were willing to fight again, but Mike held them back.  
  
"You wait, Cowboy," said Mike. "You don't mess with Harlem."  
  
"Why you beatin' up girls, Mike?" asked Jack.  
  
"I'll get your territory, too," said Mike, ignoring Jack's question. "There're more of us than there are of you, Jacky Boy. So watch your back. Cause you never know when we'll strike." With that, he pulled out his knife and slashed Jack's bandanna. A lone piece of it fell to the ground. "That's a warning," said Mike. He put his knife away and led his group of newsies up the path toward Harlem.  
  
"That bastard," muttered Jack. He turned and kneeled down next to Alley's still form. Even in the darkness, he could tell she was badly bruised and cut.  
  
"Is she alive?" asked David, staring at her with eyes the size of pothole covers.  
  
Jack nodded. "She's breathin'. She's just messed up real bad."  
  
"Oh darn," muttered Spot from his position behind Jack. Jack turned his head and glared up at Spot.  
  
"What do you mean, 'oh darn'? He coulda killed her!"  
  
Spot glared at Jack. "She's one of Ali's newsies. Does it matter?"  
  
Jack stood up and stared Spot down, something almost no one else could do. "Listen. I don't like Ali cause she won't give me my territory. That don't mean I want her or any of her newsies killed. If you do, I don't wanna work with you no more."  
  
Spot tried unsuccessfully to stare back at Jack. "I just don't like Ali."  
  
"So you want her newsies killed?" asked Jack.  
  
"I guess not," mumbled Spot.  
  
"Good," said Jack.  
  
"We should get her back to their lodging-house, then," said David quietly. He and the others turned when they heard a crunch in the gravel behind them. Ali was standing there, just staring at Alley's form. She eventually made eye contact with Jack.  
  
"She's alive," he told her. "I mean, she's breathin' an' everything."  
  
Ali pushed through the group and kneeled next to Alley, watching the girl's face intently. "Alley," she whispered. "Come on, Alley. Wake up."  
  
"She's Ali, too?" asked Mush, completely baffled.  
  
"Yeah," said Ali. "Different spelling. Alley, wake up. Please, wake up." Alley's eyelids fluttered, but they didn't open.  
  
"I can carry her back to the house, if you want," offered Jack. Ali shook her head.  
  
"No, I want her to wake up. Alley, open your eyes," she said, still staring at Alley's face. "Alley, come on! Open your eyes!" This time, she got a response. Alley slowly opened her eyes, trying to make things come into focus. Then the pain hit again, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut, moaning. Ali looked at her, anxious.  
  
"What hurts?" she asked.  
  
The pain passed for a few seconds and Alley was able to make out, "Everything," before groaning again. She was able to open her eyes completely after that. But she didn't focus on Ali. Instead, she saw six guys standing above her, dressed as newsies--just like her attackers. She screamed and covered her face. Ali's eyes shot up to look at the newsies.  
  
"Did you do this to her?" she said, her voice gradually becoming louder with each word.  
  
"No!" said Blink, backing up from Ali.  
  
"Then why'd she scream at you?" Ali demanded to know.  
  
"Cause Mike and five other guys attacked her," explained Jack. "We heard her scream, so we came over here and got rid of them."  
  
Ali turned to gaze to Jack. "What were you doin' in the park in the middle of the night?"  
  
"Goin' to a poker game," said Racetrack wistfully. "We're late."  
  
"Why should I believe you?" asked Ali. Alley had calmed herself down and was now laying on the ground, accepting her excruciating pain.  
  
"Cause we're tellin' you the truth!" said Spot. Ali glared at him, so he scowled right back at her. "I don't like you, but that don't mean I wanna beat the crap outta your newsies," he said, recalling his previous conversation with Jack.  
  
Ali turned her attention back to Alley, believing Spot for the time being. "Can you walk?" she asked Alley. The girl looked at Ali like she had just declared that a bagel was going to be the new mayor of New York.  
  
"Ali, I can't move," she said. Ali noticed her arm.  
  
"Why's your arm bleeding? Did he cut you?" she asked.  
  
"He hit me with a chain," Alley said.  
  
"Jesus," Jack muttered. "Why's he got it in for you?"  
  
"Can we save the idiotic questions for later?" Ali said. "See if you can get up," she told Alley. She helped her sit up and then stand. Alley was a little wobbly, but if she leaned on Ali, she could balance.  
  
"Anything broken?" asked Mush, trying to figure out the mind of someone who would want to do such a thing to a girl. Alley shook her head.  
  
"I don't think so. I just hurt," she said.  
  
"Well, I'm gonna get you home and then we'll get the doctor tomorrow," said Ali. She turned to the newsies. "Um, thanks for your help. We're gonna go now."  
  
"Wait!" said Jack. "You sure you don't want me to carry her?"  
  
Ali nodded. "We're fine."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Jack, I don't need your help," said Ali, interrupting him. Jack blinked in shock at the anger from her words. Not only did Ali not want his help then, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. He and the others watched as the two girls slowly made their way down the path that led home.  
  
"Well, there's a thank you for ya," muttered Mush.  
  
"She said thanks," said David.  
  
"Just leave it," said Jack. "If she doesn't want our help, fine. I got bigger things to worry about."  
  
"Like what?" asked Racetrack.  
  
"Like how I'm gonna keep Mike the hell outta my territory," said Jack.  
  
* * *  
  
Courtney placed another bag of ice over Alley's eye. Alley held it there, using her other eye to watch Ali scowl on a chair in the corner. Sunlight was streaming through the windows that day, a sharp contrast to the night before. The doctor had come and examined Alley, declaring that she would be fine. "Just a couple bruises," he had said. "Nothing to worry about too much." He recommended they tell the police what had happened, but Ali refused to. If they even caught Mike, he'd go to the Refuge for six months and then be released. God knows what he'd do after that. So instead, Alley was staying in bed that day, avoiding any contact with Mike. Courtney and Ali had sold only twenty papes apiece that day and were now staying with Alley.  
  
"We could hire someone to kill him," said Ali. She'd been throwing out all sorts of ridiculous notions as to how to get rid of Mike all morning.  
  
"That's illegal," said Courtney. She laid down on a bed, stretching.  
  
"We could poison him," said Ali. "I know where we could get rat poison. Or a gun. Somebody's gotta have a gun."  
  
"You're not shooting him," said Alley, shifting the ice to the other eye.  
  
Ali looked over at her. "Well, what do ya want me to do? Leave him alone so he can do this to you again?" She glared down at her shoes. "Maybe I should just give him the territory."  
  
"No!" Alley actually managed to yell, even with a swollen cheek. "You can't do that! I won't let you!"  
  
"There's gotta be something we can do," said Courtney. She rolled over to watch as Lindsey and Erin came pounding into the room.  
  
"I've got it!" Lindsey shouted as if she'd just discovered penicillin.  
  
"You got what?" asked Ali.  
  
"How to stop Mike!" replied Lindsey. "I've been thinking about it all day!" She was bouncing up and down on her toes in excitement. Erin, however, had lost all interest in Lindsey and had collapsed onto a bed, fanning herself. She hated July.  
  
"Well, what is it?" asked Courtney. She looked over as Erin snorted.  
  
"Oh, you're gonna love this one," laughed Erin.  
  
Lindsey scowled at her. "It's a good idea!"  
  
"Would just tell us what it is?!?" said Ali.  
  
"Rat poison!" shrieked Lindsey. "We give him rat poison!"  
  
Ali threw her hands into the air and stood up, staring at Courtney. "There! Ya see! Even she wants to give him rat poison!"  
  
Lindsey looked confused. "You already thought of that?"  
  
Ali nodded. "Sorry, Linds. Got anything else?" Lindsey shook her head and sat down, depressed. Then she realized Alley was laying in the bed she was sitting on. "Oh. How ya doin', Al?" she asked.  
  
Alley lifted her ice pack. "Just fine, thanks." She looked over to Ali. "Uh, I have an idea."  
  
"What?" asked Ali, ready for something along the line of tying Mike to a train and letting him drag along in the dust behind it.  
  
"You're not gonna like it," warned Alley. Ali just looked at her, waiting. "Well, I was just  
  
thinkin' . . . maybe . . . we could . . . ya know . . . ask Jack's newsies for help?"  
  
Ali kept looking at Alley, not believing what she'd just heard. Lindsey was staring at Alley, wondering how hard Mike had actually hit her, Courtney was actually thinking it might be a good idea, and Erin had returned to laughing loudly, except this time it was into her pillow, so she was somewhat muffled.  
  
"You wanna what?" Lindsey finally said.  
  
"Well, I think they saved me, and . . ." Alley trailed off.  
  
"Are you outta yer mind?" asked Ali. "Yeah, okay, they got rid of Mike. That's fine. But . . . don't you see? If I ask Jack for help, that means he's got the power and he can have the territory."  
  
"But Ali," began Alley.  
  
"No," said Ali stubbornly. "We're not gettin' help from Jack. That's final."  
  
* * *  
  
Later that day, Jack was back in the Duane Street house, organizing the newsies. He was putting the strongest ones up at the top of his territory, to stop Mike if the idiot actually tried to do the equivalent of an invasion. The smaller, younger ones would stay further down in Little Italy, where it would be safer.  
  
"Hey, Jack, Davey's here," called Mush, opening the door. David came in, giving a short wave to the newsies.  
  
"Hey, Dave," Jack greeted him. "You wanna take Fourty-eighth and Tenth?"  
  
"Uh, Jack, I wanted to talk to you about something," David said, ignoring Jack's offer. Jack put down his map of New York and looked questioningly at David.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" asked Jack. David looked down, studying his shoes.  
  
"Well, I was thinkin' 'bout what Mike said. How he's gonna take Ali's territory and your territory, ya know?" Jack nodded. "Uh, well, I thought maybe we could, ya know, join up with Ali's newsies. Then we could all try to get rid of Mike and not have to worry 'bout losin' the territories." Dave looked up at Jack hopefully. He got a blank stare from Jack.  
  
"I don't think so, Davey," answered Jack.  
  
"Jack, c'mon, think about it!" said David. "If we worked together, then I know we could stop Mike. We stopped Pulitzer and Hearst, didn't we?"  
  
Jack looked down at his map. He trusted Dave--after all, the kid had led them through the strike. He was smart. But did he trust Dave enough to follow through on a plan that involved working with Ali Samborn and her newsies? Jack wasn't sure about that one.  
  
"Jack?" said Mush. "Maybe Davey's right. I mean, we could help them, they could help us . . . it might work."  
  
"What do we got ta lose?" asked Skittery.  
  
"My territory," answered Jack. He sighed. "I don't know, Dave. I'll have to think about it."  
  
"What's there to think about?" asked Racetrack. "Dis here kid," he said, throwing his arm over David's shoulder, "got us through a strike. And we won! So we'll probably win this, too. Whadaya say, Cowboy?"  
  
Jack looked up at his newsies. They were all nodding at him.  
  
"And if Brooklyn helped, too . . ." said Race.  
  
"Brooklyn ain't gonna help," said Jack. "Not if we're workin' with Ali."  
  
"We'll make 'em," said Mush. "Spot hates Mike more than he hates Ali."  
  
Jack shrugged. "I guess . . ."  
  
"All right then, it's settled," announced David, not letting Jack say anything else. "Now we just gotta see if Ali's newsies wanna work with us. We need ambassadors."  
  
"For what?" asked Jack. "We just gotta ask."  
  
"Right," said David. "You gotta get someone to go ask, though."  
  
"Fine," said Jack. "You, me . . . uh, Mush, Blink, Race, you guys come with us, too. And we'll get Brooklyn."  
  
"What about me?" said Spot, wandering into the bunkhouse. He looked at Jack suspiciously. He didn't like people talking about him behind his back.  
  
"Go ahead, Davey," grinned Jack. He figured if anyone could talk Spot into this, it'd be David. And if Spot still didn't want to listen, then Jack would make him listen.  
  
David looked at Jack and then at Spot. Spot still scared David somewhat. "Well, uh, we were thinkin' about this whole Mike thing--how he wants Jack's territory, ya know?"  
  
"Yeah, I know," said Spot, narrowing his eyes at David. He wondered where this was going.  
  
"Well, we thought maybe, um, your newsies would, uh, help us keep Mike outta the area," said David.  
  
Spot grinned. That was all? "Yeah, sure," said Spot. "Not a problem."  
  
"Wait," said Jack. "There's more." Spot looked over at him, then back to David.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
David looked very uncomfortable. "Um, well, we, uh, we kinda wanted to, uh, work together with, um, Ali's newsies, too." David started talking really fast when he saw the look on Spot's face. "Cause then we'd be this unstoppable force, and Mike wouldn't have a chance, so he'd leave us and them alone and we'd all have our territories." He looked at Spot, afraid of what the guy might do.  
  
"I don't think so, Jacky Boy," Spot said finally, shaking his head.  
  
"Why not?" Jack demanded to know. "I know you don't like her, but--"  
  
"That's right, Cowboy," said Spot. "I don't like her. So why should I help her?"  
  
"Cause you hate Mike even more," answered Jack. "And you already said you're helpin' us. And we're helpin' them. So you have no choice." He grinned at Spot who glared back.  
  
"Jack, I'm not helpin' her."  
  
Jack put his hands in his pockets, thought a moment, then looked up at Spot. "Do you really want Mike to have almost all the power in Manhattan? He'd be more powerful than you, Spot. You want that?"  
  
"You can't defend yourselves?" asked Spot back. "You gotta get girls to help you? That's sad, Jacky Boy."  
  
"They're not helpin' us," said Jack. "We're not helpin' them. We're gonna work together like we did for the strike. And we want Brooklyn in with us. We gotta stop Harlem."  
  
Spot stared at Jack like he couldn't believe what he was about to say. "All right. You got Brooklyn. But if Ali says one thing dat I don't like, we're gone, we're outta there, got it?" Jack nodded, extremely proud of his persuasion skills.  
  
"Thanks," he said. "Now, we gotta go pay a visit to Ali. See if she wants to work with us. And you're comin' with us." Spot shrugged and followed Jack and the others out of the lodging-house and north to Amsterdam Avenue.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ali, please!" Courtney tugged at Ali's arms, trying to pull her up off the chair. But Ali had both hands tightly grasping the seat and wouldn't let go.  
  
"No!" she said, attempting to shake off Courtney's hands.  
  
"It's very rude," Courtney said, still pulling, "to not at least see what they want!" Jenn came over and grabbed Ali's left arm while Courtney focused all of her attention on the right. They both pulled, causing Ali to fly out of the chair and onto the floor. But before they could make her stand up, she grabbed onto a foot of a bunkbed.  
  
"I don't care!" said Ali, kicking at Courtney and Jenn's arms. "I don't wanna know what they want!" She was holding onto the bunkbed as if for dear life. Lindsey was sitting on the bed, looking down at her and laughing.  
  
"What if they wanna give us money?" asked Erin. She was perched on a top bunkbed, next to Andie, watching the spectacle Ali was making of herself.  
  
"They don't wanna give us money!" Ali shrieked. "They want my territory!" She kicked as Jenn grabbed a hold of her ankle.  
  
"Ali, we should find out what they want!" Jenn said, holding down Ali's legs while Courtney and Lindsey worked on prying her fingers away from the bar.  
  
"NO!" Ali yelled. "Why can't you see that?? They're probably here to kill us!"  
  
"They're not gonna kill us!" Alley said. She'd actually gotten out of bed and was staring down at Ali, who halted her fish-out-of-water squirming. "Would you just get up?"  
  
"Why should I?" Ali asked. "And why are you out of bed? Go lay down!"  
  
"No," said Alley. "I feel better."  
  
"You look better," said Lindsey, looking up from her finger-prying. "The swelling's gone." She didn't mention that Alley's eyes were still black and her face had a slightly green tinge to it from the bruises. Lindsey returned to picking at Ali's fingers.  
  
"Ali," Courtney whispered threateningly into Ali's ear, "if you don't go downstairs and meet with them, I'm gonna bring them up here."  
  
"Keller won't let you," said Ali. "Ha."  
  
"Keller's not here," Jenn said, smirking. Ali's face fell.  
  
"Get up," Alley ordered. Grumbling, Ali got to her feet and stared at the small group of newsies before her, her arms crossed.  
  
"Fine," she said. "I'll go downstairs. But you're all comin' with me so when they come at us with knives, you'll see I was right."  
  
"Ooo, field trip!" Lindsey shouted, standing up. She, Erin, Jenn, Andie, Courtney, and Alley followed Ali downstairs.  
  
* * *  
  
The newsy entourage looked up when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They recognized Ali only because she had her usual "Looking At Jack's Newsies Scowl" on her face. The other Alley they recognized, but just barely due to the fact that they could actually see her this time and her face wasn't swollen any longer.  
  
"How ya doin'?" Jack asked Alley.  
  
"Oh, she's great," Ali said loudly. "What do you want?"  
  
Jack sighed. This was off to a good start. He decided to just tell her and get it over with. "Mike's threatenin' to take our territory. And we know he wants yours. So we figured maybe we could work together to stop him."  
  
Ali pondered this for a nanosecond. "No," she replied, then turned to go back upstairs. But Courtney and Andie were in her way. They glared at her until she turned back around to face the guys. She refused to say anything else at that moment, though.  
  
Jenn rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Why should we help you?" she asked. She didn't trust them either, but she figured she'd let them say what they wanted to say, and then laugh in their faces.  
  
"There're lots of us," said David. "And we could help you defend your territory."  
  
"We don't need your help," said Ali. "We can handle it ourselves."  
  
"That's obvious," said Blink, gesturing to Alley. She sat down and proceeded to glare at him and the others. They may have chased Mike away, but that didn't mean she had to like them.  
  
"Look," said Ali, "thanks for what you did, but we don't need your help."  
  
"What're you gonna do when he comes back?" asked Mush.  
  
"Why do you care?" asked Ali. "Just go back to your little lodging- house and leave us alone. We don't need you."  
  
"Look," said Spot, standing up. "I'm sick and tired of your tough- guy act. We're sittin' here, willin' to help you get rid of this bastard that beat the crap out of her," he pointed at Alley, "and all you keep thinkin' is that you don't like us. Well, here's news for ya: we don't like you either! But we hate Mike even more." He looked at Jack. "Jack, if she doesn't shut up and say yes, I'm leavin'."  
  
Jack looked over at Ali. "We just want to get rid of Mike. I--" He took a deep breath. "I'll even let you keep my territory," he said, sighing. His friends looked at him like he was delirious.  
  
"Jack!" Racetrack whispered frantically. "Whadaya doin'?"  
  
"Sorry, Jacky Boy," said Ali. "I got principles. And that includes not workin' with you. So, no, thanks. That's my final answer." She turned around again and actually got past Courtney and Andie. Spot, disgusted with her, left the lodging-house, leaving the rest of the newsies sitting around.  
  
"I'm out," Jack heard Spot yell as he left the house. Great. He'd lost Brooklyn.  
  
"We'll talk to her," Lindsey promised Jack, but he just shrugged and led his newsies out of the house. The girls sat there in silence for a bit, then went back upstairs.  
  
"Ali," said Lindsey, walking over to Ali, who was again sitting in her chair, this time with her arms crossed.  
  
"No," said Ali. "I'm not talkin' about it."  
  
Lindsey looked at her for a moment and then gave up. She went over and laid down on her bed, knowing the only way Ali would even think about workin' with Jack would be if something really awful happened.  
  
* * *  
  
"They're gonna pay for this!" shouted Mike. He punched the wall next to his bunk, leaving a hole in the plaster near several others. Breathing heavily, he sat down on the bed, only to stand up a few seconds later and begin pacing.  
  
Billy rolled his eyes at the Harlem leader's behavior. Mike still hadn't calmed down from the previous night's attack and had been cursing all day about Jack and Alley. Mike had forced Billy, Frank, Sammy, and Spit to stay with him that night to plot some kind of revenge on Jack.  
  
"We're takin' their territory," said Mike finally, stopping his pacing. "Ali's and Jack's. I don't care what you have to do. Kill them. It don't matter. Just get the territory."  
  
"I ain't killin' nobody, Mike," said Spit from the corner. "What if the cops catch me?"  
  
"They ain't gonna catch you!" said Mike. "Not if you're smart. 'Sides, I didn't say you have to kill 'em. Just threaten 'em. Beat 'em up if ya have to. Make 'em so scared, they'll have to give me the territory." He narrowed his eyes at the holes in the wall. "Startin' tomorrow, things're gonna be a lot different 'round here."  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning, Ali absolutely refused to even look in the general direction of Jack and his newsies at Printing House Square. Courtney, on the other hand, kept looking over Ali's shoulder at them while the girls waited in line to get their papes.  
  
"You sure you don't wanna work with them?" Courtney asked. Ali just glared at her and moved forward in line, behind Alley and Erin.  
  
"Cause it might not be such a bad idea," Courtney continued. "I was thinkin' about it last night, and, ya know, it might work--"  
  
"Bale, forget it," Ali interrupted. "Just drop it. If anyone's gonna defend our territory, it's gonna be us. What do I care if Mike gets Jack's territory?"  
  
"Cause then we'll be surrounded," Alley said. She froze as she saw the Harlem newsies enter Printing House Square. Mike glared at her, so she tried to hide herself behind Ali and Courtney. "Keep him away from me," she said, her voice wavering. Mike scared her to death now.  
  
"Don't worry 'bout it," said Lindsey, glaring right back at the Harlem newsies. "We'll keep ya safe. Mike goes anywhere near you, he'll have me to deal with cause I'm sellin' with you today."  
  
"Thanks," Alley responded, keeping an eye on where Mike was. A few of Jack's newsies who'd already gotten their papes were standing by the girls with their arms crossed, daring Mike with their eyes to come closer.  
  
"Next!" came Weasel's gruff voice. Erin bought her papes, followed by Ali and Courtney. Alley stepped up to the window to buy her papes when Mike pushed through to the front of the line and stood by her.  
  
"Mornin', Al," he said, looking over the damage he'd done to her face.  
  
"Leave her alone," Ali warned, coming back over to the window and staring at Mike. Jack looked up at the window, concerned.  
  
"I'm just sayin' good mornin', Ali," grinned Mike. "Seein' how she's doin' this fine day." Alley took a step back as Mike went to touch her face. Jack jumped up on the platform and stood next to Ali, glaring at Mike as well.  
  
"Keep your hands off her," he said. Mike ignored Jack and went to touch Alley again, but Jack grabbed him instead and threw him off the platform. "I said, keep your hands off her!"  
  
Mike scrambled to stand up in the dirt, dusting his pants off. "I'll do whatever I damn well please, Cowboy," he said. He looked between Ali and Jack at Alley.  
  
"Beat it!" Oscar Delancey shouted, coming through the doors of the distribution center. "You're holdin' up the line!" Mike glanced at Oscar, then back at Alley.  
  
"I'll get you," he growled, then walked back to his place in line. Alley grabbed her papes and stepped down off the platform, escorted by Ali and Jack.  
  
"You okay?" asked Ali, searching Alley's eyes. Alley nodded.  
  
"You shouldn't be here," said Jack. "You shouldn't be on the streets by yourself. That guy's crazy."  
  
"Lindsey's comin' with me today," Alley said as Lindsey came over to the three. She nodded.  
  
"I'll keep that dumbass away from her," she said proudly. Jack shook his head.  
  
"If two of his goons came at ya, you're goners," he said.  
  
"Well, what do you suggest, Jacky Boy?" asked Ali, not really wanting his answer.  
  
Jack looked over at her. "Let us help you. I can send two of my guys with 'em. Keep an eye on 'em while they're sellin'."  
  
Ali shook her head. "No. You just want my territory. This is just some sick, slow way of takin' over. Well, it ain't gonna happen! You're not gettin' it, Jack!"  
  
"I don't want the territory!" Jack said, raising his voice. "I just don't wanna see Mike do what he did to her to anybody else!" he said, pointing at Alley.  
  
"What part of 'no' don't you understand?!?" Ali said, her vocal volume matching Jack's. "We don't want your help!!"  
  
"What's this 'we' stuff?" Alley muttered. Jack caught what she said and was about to comment on it when Ali started in again.  
  
"Just leave us alone, Jack!" she said. "Keep your newsies outta my territory and away from us! We can handle Mike on our own."  
  
Jack decided he was going to say something about how obvious it was that they could handle Mike from the look of Alley's face, but the bell rang, signaling it was time to hawk the headlines, so he bit his lip and followed the crowd out of Printing House Square.  
  
"Ali--" Alley began, shifting her papers. But Ali walked away from her in a huff. Lindsey gave Alley a sideways grin and the two went off to sell their papes.  
  
* * *  
  
Courtney wandered down Seventy-sixth Street, twenty-five newspapers under her arm. She'd already sold fifteen that day, thanks to a church group visiting from New Jersey. For her next victim, she decided to go with the pathetic cough that so many newsies had mastered in their attempts to appear sickly so people would buy their papes. Spotting a man looking over produce on the opposite side of the street, Courtney crossed over and commenced hacking like a dog choking on bone by a lamppost. The man looked over at her, so she quickly slumped over, trying to look as if she would pass out at any moment. She coughed again.  
  
"Are you all right?" the man asked. Courtney noticed he wore a Children's Aid Society pin. He was one of the people who paid to keep the lodging-house running! If he felt that sorry for street kids, she was almost positive he'd buy a paper from her.  
  
Courtney shook her head in response to the man's question. "I got a cold," she answered.  
  
"In July?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Yeah," replied Courtney. "Buy a pape, mista?" She coughed again and sniffled. The man narrowed his eyes.  
  
"Already bought one," he said, walking away from her. Courtney followed him.  
  
"Wait! Please," she said, "I gotta pay for medicine."  
  
"I don't have any change," the man told her. "Sorry." He walked away.  
  
Courtney stood on the sidewalk, frowning. "Yeah, I'll bet you are," she muttered. As three large, well-dressed men walked by, she bellowed, "Extra! Extra! Naked Corpse Found in Lovenest! Councilman To Blame! Extra! Extra!" Voila. Three papes sold. Courtney snickered and headed back down the street, selling five papes on the way.  
  
"Hey, Courtney." Courtney turned around, searching the crowd behind her for whoever had called her name. She didn't recognize the guy who came over to her.  
  
"Do I know you?" she asked, suspicious.  
  
"I'm Frank," the guy answered. "I'm a newsy."  
  
"Oh, wait," said Courtney, "are you one of Jack's newsies?" Frank nodded. "Oh, good," said Courtney. "Listen, about Jack's offer to help us- "  
  
"Well, that's what I came to talk about," said Frank. "Jack's makin' a new offer, and he was thinkin' maybe you could talk to Ali about it."  
  
Courtney nodded. "Sure, what is it?"  
  
Frank looked toward the building they were standing by. "Let's go in there. We're kinda holdin' up traffic here," he said, grinning and gesturing at the people who were walking around the two on the sidewalk.  
  
"All right," said Courtney, going into the building. Then she realized it was a burned-out tenement that no one lived in anymore. In fact, from the dust on the railings, she guessed that no one had been in the building for a long time. "What's the offer?" she asked, turning to Frank.  
  
"Give up the territory or else," Frank said, pushing Courtney up against the wall and covering her mouth with his hand. She struggled, but he was bigger than her, so he pressed up against her, trying to hold her still. Courtney wasn't about to give in too easily and started kicking Frank in the shins. He yelped in pain and pushed her down on the floor. She started crawling over to the railing to pull herself up, but Frank tackled her and covered her mouth again. Courtney pushed against him, attempting to shove him off of her, but he was basically sitting on her, so it was to no avail.  
  
"By the way," said Frank, pressing down on Courtney's throat and making her gag, "I'm from Harlem." Just before Courtney was about to sink into an unconscious oblivion due to lack of oxygen, Frank let up the pressure on her neck and punched her instead. Gasping for breath, Courtney tried to get away from him, but he punched her again, putting her out cold.  
  
Grabbing her by the arms, Frank dragged Courtney's limp form to the back of the hall and left her next to a pile of garbage. After brushing his clothes off, he took her papes and left the building, whistling.  
  
* * *  
  
"Let go of me!!" Erin's screams echoed off the dingy brick walls of the alley. Sammy and Spit had literally grabbed her in Central Park, telling her they had knives. Then they'd forced her to come into this alleyway. But by that time, Erin had realized that they didn't really have knives, so she was fighting to get away. Sammy grabbed her from behind and held her as Spit glared at her.  
  
"What do you want??" Erin cried, struggling in Sammy's arms. "I didn't do anything!"  
  
"Red, we don't care if you didn't do anything," said Sammy in her ear.  
  
"Yeah, this is to get Ali's attention," added Spit, getting in Erin's face. "We're takin' this territory whether she likes it or not." He punched Erin in the stomach, then stepped back, taking pleasure in watching her wince in pain.  
  
"Please!" Erin pleaded. "I'll do anything! I'll tell her! Just please let me go!" She kept pushing against Sammy's arms, frustrated.  
  
"Too late, Erin," said Spit, "it's just too late." He grabbed her roughly from Sammy's arms and threw her against the wall. Erin shuddered as the pain of all her bones hitting a brick wall shot through her. Spit grabbed her arm and she scratched at him, her fingernails leaving lines on his arms.  
  
"Leave me alone!" she screamed, running from them. She heard their feet pounding down the alley behind her as she raced around the corner behind another building. Two five-year-olds were shooting marbles and they looked up at her in wonder as she rushed by, gasping. She finally made it to the street and ran into a seamstress' shop. The woman behind the counter looked at her curiously, especially when Erin ducked down under the window as Spit and Sammy ran by, looking around frantically for her.  
  
"May I help you?" the woman asked. Erin peered cautiously out the window, making sure neither of her pursuers were in the street.  
  
"Uh, no, thanks," Erin eventually answered the woman. She turned around and looked at the woman. "Um, I gotta . . . bye!" Erin left the store, keeping to the storefronts in case she needed to hide quickly. Forget about selling papers. She was going back to the lodging-house and giving Ali a slight speech on the benefits of having Jack's newsies help them.  
  
* * *  
  
Lindsey waited as Alley sold her last paper to a finely-dressed woman. The woman took the paper with a smile and continued on her way. Alley walked back over to where Lindsey was lounging on a bench.  
  
"Well, that was easy," said Alley.  
  
"It's the bruises," said Lindsey. "You're gettin' all sorts of sympathy today." The two walked down Columbus Avenue, back to the lodging- house for the night.  
  
"I wish there were more people out," commented Alley. Even though Lindsey was with her, she still didn't like being out when so few people were around.  
  
"It's late," said Lindsey. "They're probably all asleep. Lucky them." She kicked a stone down the sidewalk ahead of them. It bounced off the curb and fell down a sewer grate. Lindsey looked down the grate in frustration, then shrugged. They continued walking, making small talk so as not to notice the darkness and quiet of the night.  
  
Five minutes passed. Alley shivered as a cold breeze floated by. It reminded her of the night in Central Park and she jumped.  
  
"Whasamatter?" asked Lindsey, playing with a piece of string on her shirt.  
  
Alley shook her head. "Nothin'. I'm just . . . worried, I guess."  
  
"We're fine," Lindsey assured her. "If Mike comes near us, I'll give him a new definition of 'pain-in-the-ass'." She glanced in the window of a shop as they passed by.  
  
"What if Billy comes near us?" Alley said quietly from behind her.  
  
"Same thing. Why?" asked Lindsey, looking up. Alley pointed to the figures approaching them from the opposite direction. Lindsey stood straight, goosebumps on her arms. "Run," she whispered.  
  
Alley wasn't about to argue, so the two of them spun around and charged down the street. Billy and his friend, Hawker, sped after them a second later.  
  
"In here!" Lindsey ordered, pulling Alley into a warehouse. It was pitch black, save for the bit of moonlight that streamed through a window twenty-five feet up. They felt in the darkness for some boxes and ducked down behind them. Five seconds later, the door swung open.  
  
"Where the hell are you?!?" Billy roared. All that answered him was his own echo.  
  
"C'mon," said Hawker, "they're in here somewhere." He and Billy peered through the darkness at the boxes. They knocked several over, revealing nothing.  
  
Lindsey and Alley were huddled in a corner, trying not to breathe or make any sound that would give them away. They couldn't see where the guys were from their position on the floor, but they could hear them moving around. They're gonna have to give up eventually, Lindsey thought.  
  
A crash directly next to them caused Alley to gasp. Then she froze, praying her gasp was drowned out by the crash. Her question was answered as Billy and Hawker leaned over the box they were hiding behind, squinting at them. A moment later, they'd run around the sides of the box and grabbed the girls.  
  
"Let go!" Lindsey screamed in Hawker's ear. He winced at the high- pitched scream that followed. Lindsey wrestled with him, refusing to let him win. She punched him when he grabbed her hair, and pushed him out the door onto the sidewalk.  
  
"Leave! Us! Alone!" Lindsey shouted, hitting Hawker with each word. He flinched each time, trying to hold Lindsey still.  
  
"Shut up!" he yelled, finally getting a grip on both of her hands and pushing her down to the street. She was right next to a pile of horse dung, and, guessing it was her only escape, Lindsey pried one of her hands loose, grabbed a handful of the manure, and shoved it into Hawker's face. He shrieked in disgust and let Lindsey go to wipe it off of his face. She stood up and ran down the street like a bat out of hell. Then she remembered Alley and hid in an alcove to figure out how she was going to get Alley back and how she could clean her hand.  
  
Back in the warehouse, Alley had broken free of Billy's grasp and was standing in front of him with a plank of wood in her hands, ready to use it as a weapon.  
  
"Alley, I ain't gonna hurt ya. I promise," said Billy. "Now, just put down the board."  
  
Alley shook her head. "Yeah, I believe that! Get away from me, Billy!"  
  
"I really don't want to hurt ya," said Billy. "I'm only here cause Mike told me to get you." He looked down at the dusty floor. "I promise I won't hurt ya, Alley. I'll just tell Mike I beat you up." He looked back up at her. "You can leave. Really. I swear to ya, I don't wanna hurt you."  
  
Alley contemplated this speech for a bit. She couldn't decide if Billy was telling the truth or not. She finally resolved to keep herself safe, so she grasped the board even tighter and started making her way toward the door.  
  
"I don't believe you," she said. "You're lying."  
  
"I'm not!" Billy cried. "Alley, I'm not gonna hurt you. I swear it." He looked at her desperately. "I have to tell Mike I did, but I won't."  
  
For a split second, Alley believed him and relaxed her grip on the board. And in that split second, Billy rushed forward, hitting the board out of Alley's hands and knocking her to the ground. She struggled against him, trying to push him away. Stupid, stupid, stupid, was all that ran through her mind as Billy held her arms down above her head, tying them loosely with a bandanna.  
  
"I lied," he laughed. Alley kicked him fiercely as he kissed her roughly on the lips. "Aw, that ain't nice, Alley," he said, pulling back. She groaned and kicked him again, still struggling to get her arms free.  
  
"Let me go!" she screamed before Billy covered her mouth with his again. He was running his hands up under her shirt and down her legs, and she didn't like it one bit. She finally got her right arm free and whacked Billy on the shoulder. He caught her hand and pushed her back down. Fed up, Alley started screaming at the tops of her lungs in his face. He smacked her to shut her up, but she used her free hand to grab the nearby plank and hit him over the head with it.  
  
"Ow!" Billy yelped, holding his head. Alley struggled under him and broke free at last. She ran from the warehouse and down the sidewalk, not even noticing Hawker sitting on the curb. Alley screamed when an arm grabbed her.  
  
"It's me!" Lindsey whispered fiercely, pulling Alley down behind a box in the alcove. "Shh!" They heard Hawker's complaining coming towards them. Billy was with him, grumbling about what an idiot Hawker was to not notice the direction the girls had run in. As they rounded the corner, Lindsey and Alley stood back up.  
  
"I think it's time to go home," Lindsey said, wiping her hand on the wall. Alley nodded.  
  
"Let's do that," she said, leaving the alcove with Lindsey behind her.  
  
* * *  
  
Ali looked up from mending a shirt when she saw a person standing in front of her. It was Erin, with a very determined look on her face. Ali put her needle down and raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Yes?" she asked.  
  
Erin didn't mince words. "You have to let Jack help us," she said. As soon as Ali started to protest, she held up her hand. "No, listen to me! Two of Mike's idiots attacked me today. That never happened before! So this has to be some kinda war or somethin' on Mike's part. I'm just afraid we can't win," she finished.  
  
"What happened?" Ali asked dully. She was starting to realize that they needed some kind of help.  
  
Erin sat down on her bed. "They forced me to go in this alley and one of 'em punched me in the stomach. I barely got away."  
  
Ali sighed, closing her eyes. What was this? Mike was gonna attack all her newsies? Jenn had come in an hour before, telling her about a Harlem newsy who'd chased her into Midtown. And Andie had sworn someone was following her all day. Others complained of being punched or followed as well. She opened her eyes as Courtney walked in the room, looking dazed.  
  
"What happened to you?" Erin asked, staring at Courtney's black eyes. Courtney shrugged and laid down. Ali stood up and went over to her.  
  
"Harlem?" she said simply. Courtney nodded.  
  
"He left me in a tenement," she said. "I woke up an hour ago."  
  
"Ali, we gotta do somethin'," said Jenn, overhearing Courtney. "This can't go on."  
  
"We train," said Ali, pacing. "You guys learn how to fight and--"  
  
Erin interrupted her. "We know how to fight, Ali! But not guys bigger than us. We need guys to help us." She paused. "Like Duane Street."  
  
Ali put her face in her hands. She really didn't want to admit Erin was right. She hated the idea of actually having to ask Jack for help. But she hated the idea of giving up her territory even more.  
  
"Ali?" asked Courtney. Ali looked over at her. "Please get Jack's help." She closed her eyes, still feeling a little woozy.  
  
The door flew open and Lindsey pounded into the room, straight over to Ali. "You're gettin' Jack's help," she said. "I don't care if you want to or not. You're gettin' it."  
  
Ali wrinkled her nose at Lindsey. "Why do you smell like that?" she asked.  
  
Lindsey looked down at her hand. "Had to defend myself," she said. She went into the washroom to clean off her hand. When she came back out, Ali was frowning at Alley.  
  
"What do you mean, he was all over you?" she was asking.  
  
"Just that," said Alley. "He was all over me. I don't know what he was gonna do, but I have an idea." She shivered at the thought of it. "We gotta stop him, Ali. Whether you use Jack or not, we gotta get somebody to help us."  
  
Ali sighed heavily, looking at her newsies. Every last one of them wanted something she really didn't want to do. But how else was she going to stop Mike? That day, he'd waged an all-out war. God only knew what he'd do the next day. Rape? Murder? The possibilities raced through Ali's mind like speeding trains, until she came to a final conclusion. She gulped, not wanting to say it.  
  
"Tomorrow," she announced, "I'll talk to Jack." She ignored the smiles she got as she sat down to try to figure out how she'd tell Jack she wanted his help without allowing him to gloat about it.  
  
* * *  
  
Kid Blink looked warily at the girls standing in front of him. Ali had gotten up extra early and walked down to Duane Street with Courtney, Alley, Erin, and Lindsey. Blink silently wondered about Courtney's black eyes. She hadn't had them the last time he'd seen her.  
  
"Wait here," he finally said. He turned around and went upstairs to get Jack.  
  
Jack was just drying his face off when Blink came over to him.  
  
"Hey, Jack?" Blink asked. "Ali's here. She wants to talk to you." Jack looked surprised for a moment. She was here? At the lodging-house? He pulled on a shirt and pants quickly and jogged downstairs, making Blink, Mush, and Racetrack go with him. When he reached the sitting room, Ali and Co. were sitting on the available seats. They stood up when the guys came in the room.  
  
"Mornin'," Jack offered, wondering why Ali looked so disgusted.  
  
"Tell him," Courtney ordered, pushing Ali forward. She looked at her friends and then at Jack, holding off as long as she could.  
  
"Tell him," Alley said, glaring at Ali.  
  
"Tell me what?" asked Jack, figuring out it was something Ali didn't want him to know.  
  
Ali glared at the floor. "We . . . need your help," she finally got out, although not too loudly. But it was loud enough for Jack to hear. Ali cringed, waiting to hear an "I told you so" from Jack.  
  
"Harlem do this?" Jack asked instead, pointing at Courtney. She nodded.  
  
"Yesterday," she said.  
  
"They didn't come after you again, did they?" Jack asked Alley. She nodded. Jack sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Did they hurt all of you?"  
  
"Everyone but me," Ali said. "I'm not sure why they keep avoidin' me."  
  
"Prob'ly scared," Mush grinned. Ali didn't grin back.  
  
"Look," she said, "it's no secret that I didn't wanna come here. But Mike's beatin' up every last one of my newsies. And we don't got the strength to stop him. So we need your help. That is, if you're still willin' to give it."  
  
Jack looked confused and shocked for a second. This wasn't what he'd expected the day to bring when he'd woken up that morning. "Sure," he said. "Yeah, we'll help."  
  
"Thanks," Ali said, still not very loudly. It was just killing her to be standing there, asking Jack for help.  
  
"Uh," Jack started, trying to think, "how 'bout some of your newsies sell down here today? And I can get some of my newsies to sell in your territory. They can sell and keep watch on some of your girls."  
  
Ali nodded in agreement. "All right. What happens if Harlem attacks someone?"  
  
"We beat the crap outta them," said Mush, getting highly excited at the prospect of scaring Spit again.  
  
Jack looked at Alley. "You're not sellin'." Alley looked at him like he was nuts.  
  
"Uh, yes, I am!" she said. "If I don't sell, I don't eat."  
  
"Then you're stayin' with me and Ali," Jack ordered. He looked back at Ali. "We'll figure out who's goin' where when we get our papes."  
  
"Fine," said Ali. She turned to her small group of newsies. "Let's go get our papes."  
  
* * *  
  
Jack and Ali had decided to send Lindsey and Erin back into Ali's territory, with the assistance of Specs and Snoddy. Lindsey wasn't too impressed with their decision. Both newsies looked too skinny to defend her from a fly, in her opinion. But she'd go along with it if it would keep her from having to put her hand into another pile of horse dung.  
  
The plan Erin and Lindsey had devised involved "luring" Mike, or whichever Harlem goon showed up, over to them. They were selling away from Specs and Snoddy. That way, Harlem wouldn't know they were being guarded. If a newsy gave them any trouble, Specs and Snoddy would step in and take care of the problem. Or so they hoped. Lindsey really wished they had more meat on their bones.  
  
"Thank you, mista," Erin said, grinning at a customer. So far, they'd been selling for an hour with no problem. Lindsey was on the opposite side of the street, screaming a false headline. Specs and Snoddy were on the corners, hawking the headlines, and keeping an eye out.  
  
Someone ran into Erin, causing her to drop all her papers. When she'd gathered them and stood up again, she found Frank standing in front of her. Unlike Courtney, Erin knew who Frank was.  
  
"Leave me alone," she warned. She didn't think Frank would attack her on this street full of people, but she couldn't be too sure. She was dealing with a band of nutcases here. She saw Snoddy watching her from the corner. He was slowly making his way towards her.  
  
"I just wanted to see how youse was doin'," Frank said. "How are ya, Erin?"  
  
"Fine," Erin snapped. "Go away."  
  
Frank frowned. "Don't you like me, Erin?" he asked.  
  
"No," said Erin, "I don't." She turned and started walking away from him. Frank followed her..  
  
"Aw, why not?" he taunted. Erin glared at him.  
  
"Take a wild guess," she said, slowing her steps. If Frank caused any trouble, she wanted Snoddy to have enough time to get to her. Frank grabbed her arm and turned her towards him.  
  
"Did Ali change her mind since yesterday?" Frank asked. Snoddy was getting closer.  
  
"No," said Erin, shaking off his hand. "She's keepin' the territory, Frank."  
  
"That ain't good," said Frank. He looked around quickly, then pulled Erin into an alley, behind a huge pile of bricks, and covered her mouth. "Doesn't she understand it's ours? Doesn't she, Erin?"  
  
Erin had a huge spurt of energy and pushed Frank off of her, into the wall across from her. That was her revenge for yesterday. But Frank wasn't finished with her. He cursed under his breath and went for her, but was stopped by the interruption of Snoddy's fist hitting his jaw. Erin watched, mind-blown, as Frank fell to the ground. Snoddy also looked a little impressed.  
  
"Didn't know I could do that," he said, looking at his fist and then down at Frank. Frank groaned and tried to sit up, but Erin leaned over and punched him, forcing him to fall back over again.  
  
"Wow," said Snoddy. "Whadaya need me for?" Erin just grinned, grabbed her papers, and went back to the sidewalk.  
  
* * *  
  
"Get your hands off me!" Courtney screamed, struggling as Spit carried her into an abandoned building. Courtney groaned when she saw this. The last place she wanted to be was in another burned-out building. Where the heck was Mush? He was supposed to be looking out for her.  
  
"Eh, shut up!" Spit said, tossing her to the ground. He was getting kind of sick of all these girls actually fighting back. If they'd just shut up and let him beat them up, life would be a lot easier.  
  
"No!" said Courtney. She let out a high-pitched wail, hoping that wherever Mush was, he could hear it. Spit smacked her, halting her shriek for a moment.  
  
"I said shut up!" he said. "You tell Ali that if she don't give Mike the territory, she's gonna be losin' newsies left and right."  
  
Courtney stopped screaming. "What?" she asked, not believing what she thought she was hearing.  
  
"Dat's right," said Spit. "You're gonna be dead if Ali don't give up the territory. Then she ain't gonna have no newsies to sell papes. And then it's gonna be ours!" He laughed hysterically at this thought and Courtney realized that she was sitting in an abandoned building with a certified lunatic.  
  
Spit was so busy laughing that he didn't notice when someone else came in the room. Courtney stood up to stand next to Mush and they both looked down at Spit.  
  
"He's nuts," Mush said in wonder. Spit hadn't even seen Courtney get up. "Let's go," Mush continued. Courtney gladly followed him out the door.  
  
Five minutes later, Spit realized that Courtney was no longer in the room.  
  
* * *  
  
Mike decided he'd had enough. Five days earlier, he'd noticed that Jack's newsies were hanging around Ali's newsies, beating up on his newsies. And he didn't like that idea. No one beat him. No one. So he was lying in wait with Spit, Sammy, Frank, Billy, and Hawker behind some crates by the Newsgirls Lodging House, ready to show Ali who the real winner was going to be. It was midnight. Ali and the others were usually back by midnight. Mike wondered what was keeping them.  
  
His answer came around the corner a few minutes later. There was Ali, with her usual gang of newsies. With them were some of Jack's newsies, probably celebrating another win over one of his guys. Mike stood up, signaling his partners to rise also. They came out of the shadows and stood in the street in front of Jack.  
  
Jack froze in his path. Mike and his goons were lined up like they were preparing for a gunfight at the O.K. Corral. The others got quiet as soon as they realized who was in front of them. Even Ali didn't have a comment.  
  
"Hiya, Jacky Boy," Mike said. Something flashed in Mike's hand. It took Jack a second to realize it was a knife. He didn't think Mike was going to be doing some more bandanna trimming.  
  
"Mike," Jack said, trying to keep things calm. He had a feeling Mike wasn't all there.  
  
"What're you doin' here, Jacky Boy?" Mike asked, his voice smooth.  
  
"Just walkin' these girls home," Jack answered. He thought frantically, trying to think of what he could use to either distract Mike or defend himself against a knife.  
  
"Ain't dat sweet," Billy scoffed. He glared at Alley, still pissed at her escape from him at the warehouse. She took three steps back and hid behind Blink and Racetrack. This was all-too reminiscent of the Central Park attack.  
  
"Yeah, that's real nice of ya, Jack," Mike added. "I'm gonna be real nice, too."  
  
Jack raised his eyebrows, trying to guess what Mike was getting at.  
  
"Here's the deal, Cowboy," said Mike. "You an' Ali give me the territories and me an' these here newsies won't kill ya. Whadaya say?"  
  
Ali peered through the darkness at Jack. She didn't know what to do and Jack must've been equally as dumbfounded, she guessed from the paleness that had just washed over Jack's face. They'd been defeating Mike's newsies for days, making them run everytime they saw one of the girls. She figured Mike wouldn't be happy about it, but then would just give up. But she hadn't expected Mike to appear like this, with weapons.  
  
"Hey, Alley!" Mike called out. Alley peered out from between Racetrack's and Blink's shoulders. "Remember this?" Mike held up his knife and laughed while his other newsies revealed the chains they carried with them. Alley took one look at this and fainted dead away, crumbling to the street. Mike laughed even harder as Blink and Racetrack turned around to watch Courtney try to wake Alley up.  
  
"Mike, why won't you just give up?" Ali asked. "You can't have the territory. So just forget it."  
  
Mike looked down at the ground. "I don't give up, Ali. This is gonna be mine. Now." With that, he and his buddies rushed forward, attacking the newsies in front of them. It was like a repeat of the night in the park, except this time, Mike was out for blood.  
  
He wrestled with Jack in the street, the knife grasped in his right hand. Jack tried to hold that arm off while simultaneously trying to knock Mike out. They rolled in the dirt, with Jack eventually getting on top and holding Mike down. Billy pulled Jack off and they continued to fight as Mike stood up.  
  
Meanwhile, Ali was trying to keep Spit from hitting her with his chains. She kept ducking, but she knew that she'd have to get hit sometime. Then she had an inspiration. If she ducked down and kicked out, she could kick Spit in the legs and knock him to the ground. She tried this, and with a yelp, Spit fell over. Ali crawled over to him and pounded him in the face, getting back at him for everything he'd ever done to any of her newsies. After giving him a bloody nose and two black eyes, Ali grabbed Spit's chain and went off to do more damage, leaving Spit helpless in the street.  
  
Erin and Lindsey jumped off one of the nearby crates onto Frank as he was about to punch Mush. All three toppled to the ground, getting covered in dirt. Frank pushed Erin off him, but she was raging mad. Erin clawed at him, scratching his face. Mush watched this display for a few moments and then decided to let Erin have a little fun. So he grabbed hold of Frank and held him up while Erin punched him in the stomach and face. Lindsey laughed in delight.  
  
"I'm not usually this violent!" she told Mush. He grinned and threw Frank on the ground.  
  
Hawker had tackled Courtney and punched her. She was sick of getting black eyes, so she reached up and put her hands around Hawker's neck, strangling him. But Sammy arrived and pulled Hawker off of Courtney. He hit her with his chain, making her scream in pain. She held her arm, curled up in a ball as Sammy attacked her. The hitting stopped suddenly and Courtney looked up to find Erin, Lindsey, and Mush holding onto Sammy. Mush hit Sammy's head with his own, sending Sammy to the dirt.  
  
"Thanks," said Courtney. She looked down to continue to try to wake up Alley. But Alley wasn't there. "Where's Alley?" she asked, looking around. Jack and Billy were wrestling, Racetrack and Ali were punching Spit who'd tried to get up, Blink was standing with Erin, Lindsey, and Mush. A scream made them run to the side of the lodging-house.  
  
Alley was laying there, her arm dripping blood. Mike was standing above her, his knife raised, looking like he was about to stab her. But Courtney ran forward and grabbed his arm, trying to pull it down. Mike spun around, the knife lightly scratching Courtney's shoulder. She winced, but didn't let go.  
  
"You bitch," Mike muttered, pushing Courtney out to the street. She still wouldn't let go, but the knife was getting awfully close to her. She stumbled backwards, using all her strength to hold off Mike.  
  
Jack gave Billy one final punch and looked over to see what was going on. Seeing the predicament Courtney was in, he rushed over and twisted Mike's arm back away from Courtney. Mike twisted himself around to face Jack.  
  
"You're dead, Cowboy," he said, ready to slash at Jack. But Ali appeared from below and, using one of Mike's chains, wrapped it around his legs and pulled him to the ground. The knife slipped from Mike's hand as he hit the ground and Jack grabbed it.  
  
"I'm dead, huh?" Jack asked, pointing the knife at Mike's throat. Mike breathed heavily, staring at Jack with wide eyes. Ali was sitting on his legs, so he wasn't going anywhere.  
  
"Don't kill me, Jack," he pleaded.  
  
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't," Jack growled. He was ready to plunge the knife into Mike.  
  
"You'll go back to the Refuge," Mike said. "They'll catch you and send you there."  
  
"You can't win, Mike," Ali said. "This is my territory. And Jack has his territory. And you'll never get it, understand?" She tied Mike's shoelaces together. "You'll never win. You're a loser, Mike."  
  
Mike looked at Ali and then back up at Jack. "Just don't kill me, Jack. Please."  
  
"You can't have our territories, get it?" Jack asked. Mike nodded. "So don't try to take them again." He put he knife closer to Mike's throat.  
  
Mike nodded slightly, avoiding the blade. "Okay, Jack. Whatever you say. Just don't kill me."  
  
Jack stared at Mike for a moment, then kicked him away. "You're such a baby. Go home."  
  
Mike jumped up and almost tripped. He looked almost confused as he untied his shoelaces and backed up away from Jack. Jack still held the knife out.  
  
"Get outta here," Jack warned. "And if you even think about doin' this again, I might not be so nice next time."  
  
Mike nodded and started walking away, backwards. His newsies had woken up and followed him. When Jack and Ali started running at them with the knife and chains, they turned around and ran as fast as they could.  
  
Jack relaxed his arm and sighed. "Don't think we'll be dealin' with them again any time soon." Ali nodded in agreement.  
  
"I hope you're right," she said. She went over to where Blink and Erin were sitting by Alley. "You okay?" she asked, squatting down.  
  
Alley nodded. "I'll be fine. It's just a scratch." Erin and Blink helped her stand up and then went inside to wash the blood off her arm. Courtney, Lindsey, Racetrack, and Mush followed, eager to wash the dirt off themselves.  
  
Ali walked back out to the street where Jack was standing by himself. He'd dropped the knife in a garbage bin and was just kinda watching the sky.  
  
"Hey," said Ali. Jack looked at her. "Thanks."  
  
Jack raised his eyebrows. "For what? You knocked Mike down."  
  
"I know," said Ali. "But . . . thanks for helping us. If they'd shown up like that and you guys weren't around . . .well, I don't know if I'd still be standin' here."  
  
Jack sighed. "Well, you helped just as much in my territory, so thanks yourself." He looked back up at the sky. "Listen," he said, "I know it was tough for ya to come to me for help. I think it was good though, cause . . . ya know, we know each other better now, and . . . and that's good, cause . . . ya know . . . we work good together . . . and we get along now and . . . " Jack just trailed off.  
  
Ali grinned. "I'm glad we're friends too, Jack," she said, going into the lodging house.  
  
"Friends?" Jack asked, following her. "Didn't anyone tell you? We hate each other!"  
  
Ali just laughed as she shut the door behind them. 


End file.
